Senate Passes Its CNR Bill; Takes $ from SNAP

02.13.2011 by George Manalo-LeClair

8.1.2010 Senate unanimously passes Lincoln's CNR bill, taking funding for CNR from SNAP budget. Just before the Senate went on its August recess, it unanimously passed Senator Lincoln's child nutrition bill (described below). However, it made one major change by partially funding the bill with a cut in food stamp benefits. Action on the child nutrition reauthorization now moves to the House. When it returns from its August recess, the House will likely take up the child nutrition bill.

Already, a handful of Democrats in the House and Senate have voiced their opposition to these food stamp cuts and have committed to restoring benefit levels. And, this letter from 106 House Democrats went to relevant House leaders urging them to find other offsets for funding child nutrition programs.

The food stamp cuts would take place in a few years and would scale back increased food stamp spending from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus bill). Some might tell you that scaling back the ARRA increase is not really a cut. We reject this argument. Food stamp benefits were largely inadequate before the ARRA increase. The ARRA boost simply brought benefit levels closer to adequate for a low-income family. For more talking points on this, click here.

Action Steps!

If you have not already done so, please join 1600 other organizations and sign-on to this opposition letter circulated by our friends at FRAC.

Check the signatories for the House letter mentioned above. If your Representative is on it, please call and thank him or her. If not, call to voice your opposition to the food stamp cut.

Members are home in their districts during this recess. Because it is an election year, they are eager to hear from constituents. Be sure to let your Representative know that cutting food stamp benefits during these tough economic times is unacceptable. In addition, raiding food stamp benefits to pay for child nutrition programs designed for low-income children is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.